New York Yankees

Travis Hafner's ninth-inning homer tied the game and Vernon Wells' ground-rule double provided the lead an inning later, powering the Yankees to a 6-4 victory over the Orioles on Monday at Camden Yards.

One way or another, the Yankees keep winning baseball games. Early in the season, the lineup’s surprising power stole the show. For a while, the rotation seemed to be carrying the most significant load. Lately, it’s been the bullpen that’s provided the stability. Through injuries and call-ups and minor trades, this team has defied expectations in every which way, and surely there’s some satisfaction in that. “I don’t know if anybody cares,” Travis Hafner said. “We just want to win. I don’t think anybody cares what people think. (There are) a lot of guys just coming together that just want to win ballgames and get to the playoffs and go from there.” One thing that’s noticeable in the absence of some familiar veterans is that the Yankees clubhouse hasn’t changed all that much. It’s still a generally friendly place, relatively soft spoken and business-like. Veterans have filled the leadership role, and young players have been developed to fall into place. The Yankees might be defying your expectations, and they might be defying my expectations, but there’s a sense that none of that matters in that room. It was never about your expectations or my expectations. “What I’m seeing is guys are coming through,” Joe Girardi said. “Guys are getting the job done. There’s no quit. They come to the ballpark excited to play every day, and they’re finding ways to win games. Sometimes when you look at our stats, we’re not at the top of anything. But these guys have just done a really good job.” Tonight’s was a game of expectations being destroyed. The Yankees haven’t blown a lot of leads this season, but they blew two of them tonight — with CC Sabathia on the mound, no less — yet they found a way to win by coming back against Jim Johnson and the Orioles bullpen, which fully asserted itself last year. Four home runs in the first nine innings, culminating in Hafner’s tying shot in the ninth. Then the Yankees played small ball in the 10th, taking the lead on doubles by Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells. Mariano Rivera, of course, did what he’s done 17 times already this season. The Yankees didn’t make it easy on themselves, and at times they didn’t make it look pretty, but if you expected them to lose, they proved you wrong once again. “We definitely keep you guys on your toes, that’s for sure,” Wells said. “We haven’t gone out and slaughtered too many teams. We need to go out and score a few more runs, let the back end of our bullpen relax a little bit. We’ve kept them taxed for pretty much every day of the season. We need to hopefully do a better job. It will come, we just have to continue to be consistent and win these close ones. We’re starting to get pieces of the puzzle back here slowly but surely, so things will work out.” They have so far. • Of course, this was supposed to be a day of rest for Wells. He would up driving in the winning run. “Nice and refreshed,” he said. “… The way the game was shaping up, close ballgame, any time any of us have an off day we want to be ready in case something happens. Joe asked me if I was ready in the eighth and I said, ‘Sure.’ He said, ‘Go play.’ Obviously the most important one came in my second at-bat. It was good to get in that situation. Early on in the at-bat I was trying to get him over, but he’s got good stuff. I got to two strikes and it was just a matter of trying to put the bat on the ball.” • With his 10th inning double — the one that ultimately led to the go-ahead run — Ichiro now has a 20-game hitting streak at Camden Yards. He has the third-highest batting average (.353) among active players against the Orioles. • Of course, that 10th inning also included Hafner’s second hit of the night, an RBI single. His first hit had been the game-tying homer in the ninth. “You’re just kind of lookin

Phil Hughes will have a chance to put his last two starts completely out of mind Tuesday night, when he leads the Yankees against the Orioles, who have lost six straight, at Camden Yards. Baltimore will activate righty Miguel Gonzalez off the disabled list to make the start.

(PR) Richmond, VA) – Mikey O’Brien settled down after a tough opening frame and allowed only hit after the first of his seven innings to lead the Trenton Thunder to a 7-3 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels in the opener of a four-game series Monday night at The Diamond. O’Brien (3-0) won for the third time in as many starts with the team in 2013 as the Thunder scored the final seven runs in the game unanswered. Trenton’s offense snapped out of a recent funk by scoring seven runs on nine hits and nine Richmond walks. Slade Heathcott went 3-for-4 with three RBI to pace the surge, while JR Murphy reached base four times and scored three runs. The first four Richmond batters reached against O’Brien on an infield hit to the mound, a walk, a bloop hit past second base and a bad-hop two run single by Mark Minicozzi. Ryan Lollis’ fielder’s choice grounder drove home the third Squirrels run giving the Trenton starter his first out of the night. O’Brien would then settle in, lasting a team season-high seven innings and giving up a total of four hits, striking out four and walking three. Danny Burawa recorded the final four outs to close out the win. After Trenton chased Richmond starter Omar Javier with a pair of two-out runs in the second, Heathcott’s RBI single in the third tied the game at 3 against reliever Jose Valdez (1-2). Murphy gave Trenton the lead with a two-out RBI single in the fourth. Heathcott struck again in the sixth, this time grounding a two-out bases-loaded single off of reliever Tom Vessella that made the score 6-3. Five of Trenton’s seven runs in the game scored with two outs. The second game of the series is scheduled to be played Tuesday night beginning at 6:35 pm. Left-hander Matt Tracy (4-3, 7.50) expected to start for the Thunder while the Flying Squirrels counter with lefty Carlos Teller (0-0, 0.00). Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and also streaming online begins at 6:20 pm.

The Yankees played a very weak game for most of the night, collecting only four hits (three were home runs) heading into the ninth inning. They probably scored enough off Freddy Garcia to secure a win with CC Sabathia on the mound, but CC proved to be ineffective. They had the lead, CC gave it up, then they retook the lead and CC gave it right back again. CC Sabathia has now given up 21 hits in his last two starts, which is not just ugly, but also worrisome considering his velocity problems. He needs to figure out how to make his stuff work if he's going to have lower velocity from now on. The Yankees scored first with a solo home run from Robinson Cano in the first inning, marking his 13th of the season and made him the dinger leader for the American League. In the second inning David Adams hit his first home run in his major league career to make it 2–0. Chris Davis responded to Cano's homer with one of his own to make it 2–1 and regain a tie for first place in home runs. In the top of the fifth inning Reid Brignac had an injury scare when he awkwardly stepped on first base, but it ultimately proved to be nothing. In the bottom of the inning Steve Pearce doubled and hit Austin Romine in the head on his backswing, creating another injury scare. Thankfully, the Yankees' only catcher stayed in. Nick Markakis singled to tie the game 2–2. In the sixth inning Brett Gardner walked and was nearly picked off of first base by Matt Wieters, but replay showed that he may have been out. That call was just one of a few calls that went in the Yankees' favor and made Buck Showalter livid. Garcia ended his night needing only 66 pitches to get through six innings, so if the Yankees were going to score they would need to do it against Baltimore's bullpen. They did just that when Lyle Overbay hit a home run off Troy Patton to make it 3–2. The biggest part was that he has hit an ugly .119/.136/.190 against lefties so far this season. But CC has been shaky recently and couldn't hold the lead for even an inning. He gave up a single to Alexi Casilla and a double to Markakis to tie the game at 3–3. J.J. Hardy then doubled to right field to score a run and knock out Sabathia with the game at 4-2. Shawn Kelley came in and struck out two batters (and one in the eighth) to get out of the inning. Kelley has a ridiculous 15.58 K/9 so far this season, which is second in the league among relievers. In the top of the eighth Vernon Wells pinch hit for Brignac, but replaced Brett Gardner in the field while Jayson Nix played shortstop. Somehow Ichiro was still in the game, though maybe that ended up being a blessing. In the top of the ninth Travis Hafner hit a game-tying home run off Jim Johnson to save the game and get the Yankees into extra innings. The Orioles closer had come into the game having blown his last two save opportunities and now the man they call Pronk ensured that he would go for a third. In the top of the 10th inning Ichiro, who had done nothing all day, doubled to start off the inning against Pedro Strop and Vernon Wells hit a ground rule double to take the lead. Austin Romine laid down a perfect bunt to move Wells to third base with one out, but Jayson Nix failed to do anything and Robinson Cano was walked. Brian Matusz was brought in to face Travis Hafner, who greeted the left-hander with a run-scoring single to make the game 6–4. It would seem that lefties don't faze Yankee hitters. Mariano Rivera came in and collected his 17th straight save of the season; business as usual. CC Sabathia finished with the ugly line of four earned runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. At least he didn't walk anyone, but four of the hits he gave up came with two strikes. Shawn Kelley pitched an inning with three strikeouts and an intentional walk to Chris Davis and Boone Logan came in to get two outs in the eighth inning and give up a hit. David Robertson struck out two and gave up a hit, whi

The Yankees were very close to losing their first game after scoring first on Monday night, but some late-inning heroics from a pair of scrap heap pickups gave the Bombers an unexpected come-from-behind win over the Orioles. New York won 6-4 in ten innings. Pronk smash. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Pronkilicous Jim Johnson’s shook. The Orioles All-Star closer has now blown three saves in his last three appearances, this time coughing up a one-run lead when Travis Hafner slugged an opposite-field solo homer on a sinker that didn’t sink enough. In his 16 years as closer, Mariano Rivera has never blown three consecutive save opportunities. Johnson did it in his second full season on the job. Pronk only tied the game, however. The Yankees and Orioles went to the tenth inning after David Robertson wiggled out of a mini-jam in the bottom of the ninth, and that’s when Ichiro Suzuki started the game-winning rally with a leadoff double into the right field corner. He was cheating fastball like a mofo and the extra-base hit was unexpected given his sub-.600 OPS coming in the at-bat. Vernon Wells doubled him in one batter later, then Hafner plated an insurance run with a two-out single off lefty Brian Matusz. After scoring three runs in the first eight innings, the Yankees score three runs in the span of ten batters in the ninth and tenth innings. Shaky Sabathia Two things stand out about CC Sabathia‘s outing. One, Baltimore’s left-handed hitters went 4-for-7 with four two-strike (!) hits against him. That never happens. Sabathia usually eats up same-side hitters, but Nick Markakis and Chris Davis looked mighty comfy in the box. Three of the four hits came off sliders — including a total hanger Davis crushed for a solo homer — a pitch lefties have whiffed on with 48.3% (!!!) of their swings during the PitchFX era. (AP/Patrick Semansky) I don’t know this for sure obviously, but I do think Sabathia’s reduced fastball velocity has something to do with that. The fastball and slider are not mutually exclusive, one works off the other, and if hitters only have to gear up for 89-91 instead of 93-95, it becomes a little easier to hang in on the breaking ball. For what it’s worth, PitchFX says Sabathia averaged 91.3 mph and topped out at 93.1 mph against the O’s. Lefties came into the game hitting .191/.261/.293 (.248 wOBA) with a 39.1% strikeout rate against CC this season, so this isn’t a long-running problem. It was just a problem on Monday night. Secondly, Sabathia should have been out of the game after Markakis doubled to tie the game in the seventh. He was approaching 100 pitches and righties have tagged him for a .276/.320/.442 (.329 wOBA) line this year, plus two excellent right-handed hitters in Manny Machado and Adam Jones were due up. That’s on Joe Girardi; Shawn Kelley was warming up and his super-high-strikeout ways were better suited for that spot. Anyway, Sabathia allowed eleven hits in 6.1 innings of work, the third time in his career he’s allowed double-digit hits in back-to-back outings. It’s the first time he’s done it without going at least seven innings in one of the two starts. CC struck out only two batters and got nine swings and misses out of 102 total pitches. Is this the new reduced velocity Sabathia? Possibly, but I think this was a bad start more than the new normal. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) Leftovers The Yankees scored their first two runs on solo homers — Robinson Cano in the first, David Adams‘ first career dinger in the second — but it wasn’t until the sixth that they scored again. Lyle Overbay drove in that run with a solo homer off left-hander Troy Patton, which was very unexpected. He came into the game with five hits (.119 AVG) and one walk (.136 OBP) in 44 plate appearances against southpaws. Once again, big ups to the bullpen. Kelley struck out three of the four men he faced — he ow

Travis Hafner hit a home run to tie the game in the top of the ninth and the Yankees added two more in the top of the 10th beat the Orioles 6-4 after 10 innings in Camden Yards Monday night. Hafner’s was actually the fourth homer of the game. Robinson Cano, David Adams, and Lyle Overbay each hit solo shots as well. Hafner’s shot tied in at 4-4 in the ninth. Ichiro Suzuki leadoff the 10th with a double, Vernon Wells doubled him in and Hafner hit a RBI-single to right that made it 6-4. CC Sabathia started the game, he did so so considering how it ended, but it was the bullpen that really saved this game. Shawn Kelley came in and kept the damage from burying the Yankees in the seventh. Kelley along with Boone Logan, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera combined for this line: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. • Shawn Kelley keeps rolling along. After his first four atrocious appearances, he has 24 strikeouts and two walks in 13 innings. Ignore his 5.40 ERA. • David Adams hit the first home run of his major league career. It was a nice shot to left that just stayed fair. He’s now hitting .333 though he’s still looking for his first walk. • Cano hit his league leading 13th home run. He also picked up a pair of walks which is good because his .337 OBP has been a little lacking. • This was a good game for Brian Cashman fans. Vernon Wells went 1-for-2 with the game winning RBI, Travis Hafner went 2-for-5 with the game tying home run, and Lyle Overbay went 2-for-5 with a homer. Three not so obvious moves that the Yankees made that are really paying off. • Reid Brignac made his Yankees debut. He went 0-for-2 and was eventually lifted for Wells. • Travis Hafner stole a base, his second of the season. He stole two bags from 2009 through 2012. Photo credit: (May 16, 2013 - Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America).

The Pitching CC Sabathia clearly didn't have it, but he made whatever he had last 6.1 IP. They call him an ace for a reason, and he always finds a way to keep the team in the game, even during his stinkers. He allowed 11 hits and 4 runs, and only earned 2 strike outs. It's something to keep an eye on, especially while he's still showing lower velocity, but despite some early shaky starts, CC still owns a 3.43 ERA this season. On the other side of the mound, Freddy Garcia gave up just 3 hits and 2 walks. Good to see the ex-Yankee still throwing that nasty splitter, but he didn't have to do it against his old team. The (Lack of) Hitting The Yankees offense would have been a real big complaint if it weren't for all the home runs. Knowing they scored 6 runs, it really doesn't seem like a problem, but the Yankees had just 4 hits through the first 8.0 innings of this game. Unfortunately for the Orioles, three of those four hits were solo home runs off the bats of Robinson Cano, David Adams, and Lyle Overbay. The Blown Save (Click on “view full post” to continue reading)

2-5, game-tying HR in the 9th: .267/.379/.552 on the season